Insidr — knowledge hub for internationals in the Brainport region
Insidr, a knowledge hub for the internationals of Brainport.
"We make the Brainport region a suitable place for everyone."
– Insidr, an initiative of Brainport Development
Insidr is a digital knowledge platform from Brainport Development that helps internationals settle into the region. It connects education, governments, business, residents and internationals in one place, with tailored information and referrals to local sources.
Schwung took on the whole journey: the name and branding, the platform, the campaign and the development based on real user data. Not a one-off launch, but a brand that keeps learning and growing.
Attracting talent is one thing. Helping it land is another.
The Brainport region thrives on international talent. But anyone who is new here gets stuck on practical questions: how does Dutch education work, which type of school suits my child, what does it cost, and how do I apply? That information was scattered across dozens of government and school websites, often only in Dutch. Insidr had to replace that chaos with one reliable, personal starting point.
A name that tells you straight away what you get: inside information.
Insidr gives 'inside information' about the Dutch system. The name makes it personal and human: the platform speaks to you directly with "I'm your Insidr", as if a local contact is helping you on your way.
We made the information specific and credible by connecting it to real insiders: schools, businesses and governments in the region. The brand got a strong, clear face: a red colour scheme, a friendly pointing visual language and a tagline that captures the mission, "Knowledge hub for migrants to the Brainport region".
Personal information in three questions.
The heart of Insidr is a personal guide. The visitor enters where they come from, which type of school they are looking for and where they want to live, and gets tailored information back. Below that, quick links bring the key topics within reach straight away. The platform is custom-built in Umbraco, with modular content blocks that let the Insidr editorial team assemble pages themselves within the brand style.
Where are you from?
- 01Dutch education system
- 02Schools in the Brainport region
- 03Costs & application process
- 04Educational concepts
From platform to the streets.
A knowledge hub only works once internationals find it. So we built a campaign that makes the brand pop up everywhere: from waiting room to welcome pack. And we called on organisations to "become an Insidr": refer internationals on and add a link to insidr.nl.
Flyers & posters
Flyer and A3 poster with the recognisable pointing visual language and a QR code straight to the platform.
Roll-up banners
Banners for info sessions and desks: "Get your information from an insidr."
Expat advertisements
Advertisements aimed at internationals, with the mission and a direct call to action to the site.
Tony's Chocolonely bar
A custom Insidr wrapper around a Tony's bar: a warm, shareable brand moment that sticks.
"Become an Insidr"
A call to schools, employers and governments to refer people on and link to insidr.nl.
Findability
QR codes, links and search traffic bring internationals to the platform, including via AI search engines.
Don't guess, measure.
A platform is never finished. We connected GA4 and Hotjar to Insidr and analysed a full measurement period (24 February to 14 May): reach, sources, heatmaps, scroll depth and short on-page surveys. That way we see not just how many people come, but also what they do, read and miss.
A truly international audience
Around 40% of visitors are already in the Netherlands, the rest are getting oriented from abroad.
Found via Google and AI
Google is by far the biggest source (~40%). But strikingly: internationals already find Insidr via AI search engines too. ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and Gemini refer people to the platform, alongside Bing, Ecosia and DuckDuckGo.
Exactly the kind of findability we steer for: being visible where people ask their questions these days.
What the data tells us
- Pages are read in depth. Long reading times and high scroll depth: the content lands, content wins out over distraction here.
- Videos and visual explanations score well. The videos on the homepage and the visual explanation of the healthcare system are watched relatively often.
- Whether people find what they're looking for is 50/50. That depends heavily on intent: school costs, for example, were not yet on the site.
The filter drains away
The personal guide shows drop-off: from the first input field to the search button, most people fall away. A clear signal that the interaction needs to be simpler.
Number of interactions per step, a pattern that calls for a simpler solution.
From education to healthcare, and from filter to conversation.
The insights steer the roadmap. Insidr has already expanded from the education system to the Dutch healthcare system: GP and emergency care, health insurance, costs and information per audience. On top of that sits a roadmap that turns every bottleneck from the data into an improvement.
Filter becomes conversation
Replacing the abandoned filter with a multilingual AI chatbot, trained on the platform's own content: question and answer instead of dropdowns, with a handover to a human when needed.
Everyone in their own language
Automatic translation on top of the NL and EN content, so internationals read the information in their mother tongue, without the editorial team having to manage everything twice.
Content as video
Bringing the text content to life with AI video and a dedicated Insidr avatar that tells the story in multiple languages, exactly where videos already score best.
Easier editing
Visual block previews in the Umbraco back office, so the editorial team sees what it's building and assembles pages faster and more consistently.
Faster loading
Front-end and performance optimisation with modern lazy loading of scripts and images, for a better PageSpeed score and user experience.
More accessible
Skip links, landmarks and better keyboard navigation, so visitors with a disability find their way smoothly too, working towards WCAG.
Role, client, what's next.
Client
Brainport Development
Role
Name & branding, web design & development (Umbraco), campaign, online marketing & data-driven development
Status
Live and ongoing, expanded into healthcare
Live
Frequently asked questions about Insidr
What is Insidr?
Insidr is a digital knowledge platform from Brainport Development that helps internationals find their way in the Dutch education and healthcare system in the Brainport region. It connects education, governments, business, residents and internationals in one place with tailored information, and points the way to local sources. You'll find it at www.insidr.nl.
Who is Insidr for?
For internationals and expats moving to the Brainport region (Eindhoven and surroundings) or who have just settled there. Think of knowledge workers, their families and students who want to understand how Dutch education works: from pre-school and primary school to secondary education, newcomer education and choosing a school.
What did Schwung do for Insidr?
The full brand and online journey: the name and branding, the web design and the build of the platform (custom-built in Umbraco), and the campaign assets (flyers, posters, roll-up banners, advertisements and a Tony's Chocolonely bar as a give-away). Followed by data-driven development with Hotjar and GA4, and the expansion into the healthcare system.
Where does the name Insidr come from?
Insidr stands for 'inside information' about the Dutch system. The platform speaks to internationals personally, 'I'm your Insidr', and makes the information specific and trustworthy by connecting it to real insiders: schools, businesses and governments in the region.
How do you measure whether a platform like this works?
By measuring behaviour instead of guessing. With GA4 we track reach and sources, with Hotjar we look at heatmaps, scroll depth and short on-page surveys. That revealed, among other things, that pages are read in depth, that the audience is international and that the filters show drop-off, insights that steer the development.
What is Insidr built on and what is on the roadmap?
Insidr runs on Umbraco, an open and scalable .NET CMS, with custom content blocks that the editorial team manages itself. The roadmap builds on the user data: a multilingual AI chatbot that replaces the filter with a conversation, automatic translation so internationals read in their own language, AI video with its own Insidr avatar, and ongoing optimisation of speed and accessibility.
A brand that keeps learning?
Just like Insidr, we love building a brand that grows along with its users, based on real data.